Reviewer's Choice

Amazing Moms: Love and Lessons from the Animal Kingdom provides a fine book pairing fun
animal photographs that capture the idea of motherhood with quotes from writers and famous
people, and will make for a fine Mother's Day gift. Animal facts and fun insights about nature
provide mothers and their families with a fun and colorful set of facts that readers of any age can
enjoy.

The Art of Peter Sculthorpe: Paintings Spanning Four Decades by Peter P. Sculthorpe (a leading
American artist working in both watercolor and oil) offers a definitive collection covering his art
spanning some four decades, through different mediums and locations, and is a 'must' for any art
collection interested in representations of classic art in general and Sculthorpe in particular. An
oversized oblong hardcover captures in full-page displays the paintings of landscapes that are one
of the hallmarks of his art - over a hundred works that are accompanied by his essays and
descriptions. Any art holding strong in paintings will find this a solid addition.

The Mystery/Suspense Shelf

Betty Webb's The Puffin of Death (9781464204142, $26.95) provides a fine Gunn Zoo mystery
as it tells of a California zookeeper's journey to Iceland to pick up a polar bear cub for an exhibit.
Murder should be the farthest from Teddy's mind, but when his scenic horseback ride encounters
a body on a puffin burrow, identified as a famous American bird-watcher and winner of a huge
lottery, events quickly descend into an investigation where Teddy is both a suspect and an
investigator. Against the scenic backdrop of Iceland a cat-and-mouse game is played out with the
killer one step ahead of Teddy and Iceland's wilderness challenges in a gripping mystery story.
Mark de Castrique's A Specter of Justice (9781464204722, $26.95) provides a Sam Blackman
mystery as it tells of a private detective's attempt to ease his conscience by helping his partner
and lover conduct a fundraiser for newly orphaned twin boys killed in a courtroom shootout. The
charity event requires Sam to recreate a ghost story - only somebody else has already set the
scene for a duplicate tragedy, involving Sam in the case of a serial killer and possibilities of his
guilt. A wonderful rabbit warren of intrigue and twists will delight mystery fans.

The Fiction Shelf

Pacific Burn is a new Jim Brodie thriller that will attract prior fans and newcomers alike, and
provides a different story line as Brodie becomes the liaison for the mayor's new Pacific Rim
Friendship Program only to face an unexpected sniper attack that leaves his Japanese artist friend
in a coma. Because his friend's son was killed under suspicious circumstances a week earlier, it
seems his friend's family is being targeted - and there are too many suspects to count. Can Brodie
get to the heart of matters before his friend's family is decimated? A powerful story supercharged
with personalities and cross purposes makes for a fine read.

The Feathered Bone is set in pre-Katrina New Orleans and tells of Amanda, charged with
chaperoning her daughter's sixth-grade field trip into the City during Halloween when a girl
vanishes without a trace, sending Amanda's daughter into a depression and the family into a
tailspin. Amanda thus undertakes a personal journey to find the girl and make things right, facing
loss and Louisiana's darkest secrets in a story that's emotionally captivating and hard to put
down.

Safe and Fun Playgrounds: A Handbook discusses safety in outdoor play environments and is a
recommendation for schools and educators interested in the latest research on equipment,
playground design, and play. It's written by the founders of the National Program for Playground
Safety, and represents some eighty years of combined professional knowledge as it discusses
basic rules for playground design and management and provides strategies for incorporating them
into a child's overall educational process. From maintaining equipment to understanding
dangerous surfaces and making modifications, this is a 'must' for any who are involved with kids
and play.

Jennifer T.H. Wathall's Concept-Based Mathematics: Teaching for Deep Understanding in
Secondary Classrooms (9781506314945, $28.00) shows teachers how to better approach math
teaching processes, and advocates using concepts to help students link math with higher-level
thinking and applications. Examples from various math tasks and processes are accompanied by
student work, teaching applications, educator stories, and more, with chapters profiling analytical
approaches and using charts and examples to demonstrate collaborative discussion processes.
The wealth of information that includes student paper results as well as math approaches will
provide any secondary math teacher with all the specifics needed to produce more meaningful
associations between math and real-world processes. Eric C. Sheninger's Uncommon Learning:
Creating Schools That Work for Kids (9781483365756, $25.00) encourages and shows how to
create a student-centered learning experience, tailoring modern teaching routines and classrooms
to a different kind of structure that encourages school administrators, teachers, and classroom
support groups to work together. Makerspaces, blended and virtual learning environments,
adapting digital learning techniques, and badging's importance in continuing learning makes for
chapters that address the latest technologies and educational research findings. Educators and
principals will find this filled with ideas for transforming the process. Karen D. Wood, D. Bruce
Taylor and Katie Stover's Smuggling Writing: Strategies that Get Students to Write Every Day in
Every Content Area (9781506322629, $28.95) discusses the basics of how to add even more
writing in a curriculum already packed with writing exercises for grades 3-12, and it employs
written response activities as part of its process. A range of tested tools are organized by type of
activity such as vocabulary, concept development, and research so that teachers can link student
activities in other areas to specific enhancements involving writing and comprehension. Sample
lessons for traditional and online formats, ideas for reinforcing lesson plans through additional
'smuggled' writing opportunities, and clear strategies that include at-a-glance objectives,
overviews, and procedures at different stages leave nothing to guess and provide teachers with
concrete options. The third updated edition of David A. Sousa's How the Special Needs Brain
Learns (9781506327020, $39.95) offers the latest research to help students who struggle with
learning basic reading, writing and computation skills, and offers teachers a compendium of the
latest learning tools based on the latest brain research. Chapters focus on a combination of
motivational approaches and learning triggers and address the special challenges of all kinds of
students, from those with ADHD to students with dyslexia, autism, and emotional problems.
Teachers receive clear directions on how to alter instructional approaches to ensure success, and
will delight in a clear how-to guide that covers all the bases and provides clear coverage geared
to special needs students.

The Cookbook Shelf

The Essential 5:2 Fast Diet Planner offers a fasting planner and diet plan for those who would
intermittently fast, and provides a diet that's structured over the course of a week, to include
several days when food intake isn't more than 500 calories a day for women and 600 for men.
With this approach in mind, The Essential 5:2 Fast Diet Planner provides recipes and foods for
both fast and non-fast days, with full-page color photos complimenting such dishes as Fruity
Grated Carrots, Seared Veal & Mushrooms, and cold or hot Fish and Bean Salad. The result will
delight any who seek a specific cookbook that takes fasting into account.

The New Wildcrafted Cuisine: Exploring the Exotic Gastronomy of Local Terroir provides a
range of recipes that include infusions and use wild ingredients, and is a recommendation for any
who would forage for the best ingredients, then put them to best use. Chapters pack in color
photos of foraging and recipe preparation and include many tips that are hard to find elsewhere,
such as how to use mustard flowers (common in many places in California in early Spring) to
make mustard (by infusing them with white wine, vinegar and spices, or how to make vinegars
from scratch. The result is an appealing and unusual collection of herbal recipes and tips not to
be easily found elsewhere: one that takes the ingredients of the wild and transforms them into
something familiar and necessary for cooking.

Raw Cakes: 30 Delicious, No-Bake, Vegan, Sugar-free & Gluten-Free Cakes pairs some forty
color photos with recipes for cakes that lack many of the ingredients that would stymie dessert
fans from eating them, and making this the perfect item of choice for any who are on a special
diet. Cakes made without eggs, flour or butter, and even without baking use substitute
ingredients such as maple syrup and almond butter. While bakers might expect exotic ingredients
and long prep times, another 'plus' of this book lies in its quick turnaround which makes most of
the cakes a snap to produce.

The Sports Shelf

Functional Training: Exercises and Programming for Training and Performance offers a new
approach to training and conditioning methods that can apply to a range of sports activities, and
packs in exercises based on the latest sports training research along with proven programs that
can be added to any existing routine. Its functional training concepts can be applied to eleven
specific sports while its routines incorporate dumbbells, bands, stability balls and more tools.
Readers learn how to analyze the special needs of their sport, how to tailor exercises based on
these needs, and how to customize and refine a training program. The result is recommended for
coaches, triathletes and any who would add to an existing training routine.

The Autism Shelf

Sex, Drugs & Asperger's Syndrome (ASD): A User Guide to Adulthood should be required
reading for any ASD young adult on the cusp of adulthood. It comes from a 26-year-old who
charts the common pitfalls of entering the adult world, and it covers bullying and body language,
the strange world of dating and relationships, ethical considerations in life, conversational
blunders, and truths about drug use. All these subjects are referenced in a chatty, involving
manner that makes for easy reading offering many enlightening tips on how to make the most of
life.

The Psychology Shelf

Lucy Whitman's People With Dementia Speak Out (9781849052702, $24.95) takes the
experiences of over twenty people from diverse backgrounds who tell about their diagnosis and
how they lived with dementia, and provides too few books on the topic can offer: a roadmap for
survival. These personal accounts discuss a range of life challenges, from gaining support from
friends, family and other places to living with the slow erosion caused by dementia; but if it's one
major truth they succeed in illustrating, it's that dementia experiences are not the same for all.
Having an abundance of information from different people serves to illustrate that though the
physical forms of dementia may be similar, how they are experienced and processed is a very
individual task. Readers who would gain a better understanding of dementia's feelings and
experiences will find People With Dementia Speak Out an outstanding collection of diverse
people, experiences, and coping mechanisms. Annie Heiderscheit edits Creative Arts Therapies
and Clients with Eating Disorders (9781849059114, $39.95), a primer gathering the expertise of
a range of creative arts therapists from around the world who examine how their practices have
benefited from applying these therapies to clients with eating disorders. Art, dance, drama, music
and writing therapies have encouraged growth and change in a clientele notoriously difficult to
transform: these articles explain how each therapy is instituted in the course of traditional eating
disorder treatments, and how inpatients, outpatients, and varying degrees of ED disorders benefit
from these different creative arts approaches. Clinical practitioners and students of ED will find
these case illustrations combine theory with applications that promise positive change and results
that last.

The Health/Medicine Shelf

Safety Concerns for Herbal Drugs belongs in any health care collection and offers important
examinations in considering whether herbal drugs lack adverse effects when used either
individually or in conjunction with modern medicine. It's a compendium of risks and benefits
that takes a variety of popular herbal medicines and discusses safety and toxicity, surveying some
1500 medicinal plants and herbal products from various countries and including the latest
research, regulations, and their enforcement in over seventy countries. The result is a handbook
that addresses many different concerns, backing its contentions with tables of information,
statistics, and the latest discussions about herbal remedies.

The Audiobook Shelf

Roses are Red appears in an unabridged audio edition narrated by Peter Jay Fernandez and
revolves around detective Alex Cross, who against pursues a dangerous killer. This time it's a
criminal called the Mastermind who has orchestrated some of the most outrageous unsolved
mysteries in Washington D.C. The killer is meticulous and a control-freak: can he be stopped?
Only if the detective is just as savvy - and only if that detective is in time to stop not just a crime
spree, but events leading up to one big perfect crime. The effect on audio is even more powerful
than in book format.

The Metaphysical Studies Shelf

The Children of Roswell: A Seven-Decade Legacy of Fear, Intimidation, and Cover-Ups is
highly recommended for any collection strong in UFO and conspiracy theories, especially new
age readers interested in ongoing Roswell research. This book focuses on the true stories of
Roswell families who were witnesses to events, only to find their sagas twisted and their lives
filled with harassment. Hasn't this been done before? Not in this manner, for this book focuses on
the long-term effects of ongoing harassment and fear on the descendants of the original Roswell
witnesses, and offers an eye-opening, revealing story of how the children and grandchildren of
the original observers continue to pay for their parents' experiences. These documented stories
provide eye-opening revelations and should join any definitive Roswell collection.

Colloidal Silver: The Natural Antibiotic belongs in new age and health holds alike and discusses
a natural antibiotic and antiviral used until the middle of the 20th century, when pharmaceuticals
were developed and promoted instead. Why is this older form of antibiotic to be considered now?
Because the onset of new resistant infections has led to newfound attention on the benefits of
colloidal silver. The authors here explore its many benefits and uses for boosting immunity and
reducing pain. It can also apply to nearly eighty common conditions from canker sores and
eczema to flu, and scientific studies support the fact that this silver works against a range of
infections and offers quick relief in many circumstances. The result is a heath discussion that will
especially attract those interested in alternative medicine and older forms of natural
antibiotics.

Our Dolphin Ancestors: Keepers of Lost Knowledge and Healing Wisdom explores the
human/dolphin connection in a new light, explaining the natural affinity between the two species
with an eye to revealing the evolutionary foundations for special relationships with dolphins,
contending that human and dolphin come from the same descendants. New age readers familiar
with the theory of mankind's aquatic origins will find this a detailed discussion of how human
and dolphin connections split over the eons, and will appreciate the addition of scientific research
on dolphin intelligence and qualities as it explores the historic connections between dolphins and
humans. New age readers will find this an intriguing inspection of just how deep the
human/dolphin connection runs.

Written by vets with years of experience in general practice, this 'Foundation Manual' is the first
place a busy practitioner should turn to when a puzzling new case presents. It's specific to
canines and it provides clear sections covering general practices, common challenges, and
clinical presentations which demand an extra layer of thought and analysis. Designed as a quick
reference guide, this book is perfect for trauma assessment and emergency canine management,
and discusses all kinds of symptoms and vet responses. The result is a definitive, authoritative set
of concise answers that focus on clinical approaches and quick analysis.

The Crafts Shelf

Draw Horses in 15 Minutes shares the insights and techniques that have made author Diana Hand
a professional equine artist, and is recommended as a basic starting point for any who would
draw horses. Her step-by-step instructions shows how to choose a horse model, how to draw in
such a way as to capture its movement and personality, and how to understand the basics of
drawing the horse figure and the options involved. The result is a fine horse drawing beginner's
guide that offers the basics for capturing the right feel of a horse's image.

The Photography Shelf

Pierre Stephenson's Foundations of Posing: A Comprehensive Guide for Wedding and Portrait
Photographers (9781608959457, $34.95) provides a fine book that shows how to built images
that make the most of a portrait through proper posing and lighting. Chapters discuss how best to
pose women, men, children and groups, considering body language and different kinds of poses
for different purposes. From action and storytelling poses to handling perspective, chapters are
packed with black and white and color shots that illustrate the finer art of posing for maximum
results. Brett Florens' Shot in the Dark: Low-Light Techniques for Wedding & Portrait
Photography (9781782030080, $29.95) comes from a commercial and wedding photographer
who tells how to produce the best results from low-light situations, and discusses the basics of
how to capture scenes and subjects using the least light. Chapters contract images for examples,
discuss different techniques that can expand photographic options, and offer plenty of examples
of professional results. Any neo-pro working with low-light settings needs this. Christopher
Grey's Cheap Tricks: Ingenious Lighting and Shooting Ideas for Studio Photography
(9781682030127, $29.95) tells how to produce professional, polished results on a budget and
focuses on how to reduce the typical studio budget through reducing special effects equipment
and getting results elsewhere, instead. Simple techniques for maximizing common photo
equipment offer the same or similar results as those gained from higher-end hardware, with
chapters presenting impressive options and tricks for getting the most of standard camera work.
The result is an outstanding example of what can be done on a budget: an exceptional collection
of studio magic tricks that any photographer can duplicate with the help of this specific guide.
Mark Chen's Mastering Composition for Photographers: Create Images with Impact
(9781608959815, $37.95) not only teaches photographers the basics of photo composition, but
covers the basics of when and how to apply these principles and how to design images that are
striking and captivatingly different. There's a fine art as well as a science involved in moving an
image from 'interesting' to 'striking', and Chen covers this process through example, teaching
photographers about the underlying elements inherent in different shots and options. From using
stacked composition to emphasize group dynamics to analyzing masterpiece works to understand
their underlying force, Mastering Composition for Photographers teaches by both example and
discussion of key influences on composition choices. No aspiring photographer should be
without this. The same goes for Jim Cornfield's The Soft Touch: A Photographer's Guide to
Manipulating Focus (9781608959495, $34.95): this is an invaluable, necessary reference for any
photographer at any skill level who wants details on how to manipulate depth of field and focus
to capture moods for all kinds of objectives, from weddings and boudoir to commercial
photography and indoor shots. Tips come from several photographers who explain their various
techniques for manipulating softness to produce different effects, and include color photo
examples throughout and discussions of mystique, creating image, and fine-tuning a photo's
impact. The result is a powerful survey that's a specific, top reference for those photographers
who have moved past novice endeavors into more advanced pursuits.

The Reference Shelf

The seventh updated edition of The Image Processing Handbook covers 2D and 3D imaging
techniques, image printing and storage, quantitative analysis, and algorithms for measurement,
and represents a technical engineering reference powerful in its electrical theories and
applications. Here are over 1,700 references to theory and applications covering a range of
disciplines, with revamped chapters offering new figures, images, color representations, and
revisions to statistics and processes. Researchers and novices alike will find the technical
discussions accessible and backed by formulas and calculations while the broader scope of image
processing applications makes for a powerful sweeping interdisciplinary survey. The result is a
top pick for any electrical, engineering or reference collection.

The World History Shelf

Hair: A Human History comes from an expert on hair who provides a fun global romp through
history discussing various aspects of hair; from no-hair and long-hair peoples to how changing
fashion trends in hair styling affected the uses and applications of hair products and hair
commodities. Chapters discuss all aspects of hair, from its biology and art to its various uses, and
provides a lively blend of history and science highly recommended for any interested in the
evolution and culture of hair.

The Computer Shelf

Steven M. Bellovin's Thinking Security: Stopping Next Year's Hackers (9780134277547,
$39.99) is recommended for IT professionals with a particular interest in security, and provides a
new method of analyzing security needs to develop a different approach to preventing intrusions.
The basic premise here begins with the idea that security is a systems problem requiring different
routines to address gaps and common problems, and it also maintains that backups and Plan B
routines should be established to counter the possibility of failure. There are many myths
associated with the topic of computer security and Thinking Security addresses many of them,
from wireless issues and fallacies in thinking about the security or vulnerability of such systems
to how to evaluate defenses and make wide-ranging changes that address not just present-day
known vulnerabilities, but possible feature issues. The result is a security approach no IT
professional or business manager should be without. Peter Gottschling's Discovering Modern
C++ (9780134383583, $49.99) provides an introduction for using the latest C++ programming
routines and is recommended for any programmer who wants to get up to speed quickly with the
concepts and applications of C++. Examples from real-world issues use the author's experience
training professionals and students alike to craft problems and solutions that demonstrate C++'s
strengths and abilities, but heart of the book is designed to help relative newcomers get started
quickly - and to this end, templates provide recipes for success. The emphasis is on writing the
best software possible to take advantage of C++'s strengths: chapters not only provide formulas
but discuss common errors and how to address them. Filled with code and screen examples,
Discovering Modern C++ is a fine recommendation for any programmer who would learn from a
blend of best practices and real-world examples.

Big Data Fundamentals: Concepts, Drivers & Techniques provides a guide to big data basics and
comes from IT professionals who explain the basic concepts and their applications, adding case
study examples to cement each foundation idea. As a primer to the subject, it provides
college-level readers and computer IT students with a guide that connects the basic concepts of
big data management to business pursuits, offering chapters that show how to adopt, set up,
instigate, and create powerful plans for gathering, storing, and using big data. From data
warehouses and considering various kinds of Big Data resources to processing in batch mode,
applying analytics, and considering different methodologies, Big Data Fundamentals is packed
with charts and diagrams and provides everything needed for an IT reader to get up and
running.

Andrew Pinkham's Django Unleashed (9780321985071, $49.99) uses the author's background as
a teacher of the computer Django system to tackle common issues and programming questions,
providing a step-by-step user-friendly guide for any who would better understand how Django
works with website development. From how to write Pyton code and solve problems that revolve
around Django applications to applying Django's particular approach to real-world problems, this
book is a 'must' for relative newcomers who would get up and running quickly. It teaches how to
use Django templates to best advantage, how to troubleshoot common problems and apply
Django Forms and models to typical applications, and how to protect a website while taking
advantage of Django's processes. The result is a highly recommended pick for any Django
programmer and relative newcomer to the program's potentials. Andy Nicholls, Richard Pugh
and Aimee Gott's Sams Teach Yourself R in 24 Hours (9780672338489, $39.99) presents a
format that provides 24 lessons of one hour or less each to impart the basics of R, and is
especially recommended as a teach-yourself workbook that pairs real-world examples and
problem solving with R basics supported by quizzes and exercises for self-testing. Chapters
cover all the basis, from installing and understanding the R environment to writing and working
with common R structures, plugging data into various R functions, and applying families of
functions to best advantage. Code examples, summary processes, tips for understanding the
grammar of graphics terminology, insights into creating various models, and more all contribute
to an outstanding self-learning tool that promises newcomers the quickest, most methodical
learning process for absorbing R and its applications.

Getting Started with Data Science: Making Sense of Data with Analytics packs in stories about
data science to provide a jargon-free coverage of basic theory and technique, and pairs
discussions with real-world examples and hands-on exercises. Rather than presenting theory and
tossing in a few case histories, this book builds a data science foundation of progression
discoveries by encouraging readers to problem-solve and answer data science questions from
consumer, education, online and technology applications. Each problem walks readers through
the options and resolution process and provides charts, tables, maps, and plenty of visuals. The
result is a study that is packed with data science insights and which excels in its presentation and
approach. It's not the typical textbook of facts, but teaches a system and a method of
troubleshooting that ultimately result in a professional approach to the data science field as a
whole.

The seventh updated edition of Teach Yourself Java in 21 Days covers Java 8 and Android
development, and teaches how to use the Java language to create a variety of applications. One
might think that such a study would be directed to programmers with prior Java experience, or to
programmers familiar with other languages; but in fact, no previous programming is needed at all
(though computer and programming basics will help). Learners receive a self-guided workbook
that creates chapters based on foundation information provided in a progressive manner. This
means that the building blocks of knowledge assume a logical format and allow all kinds of
computer learners at all levels to absorb Java 8's basics in a methodical manner. Each chapter
includes exercises and self-tests and teach also adds certification practice questions, for those
who intend on getting certified. This edition has been completely revised and expanded, so
owners of older editions should consider it an important replacement which retains the same easy
approach and examples as prior editions, but adds all the latest Java 8 features. It's a 'must' for
anyone who would learn Java in a self-directed self-study approach, but will also serve well as a
classroom supplement or text.

The 2016 edition of Ubuntu Unleashed covers 15.10 and 16.04 editions and provides the same
attention to detail as its predecessors in a new edition. Ubuntu programmers who have either
utilized previous editions or who want a comprehensive and in-depth coverage that begins with
the basics and moves into advanced customization processes will find everything here that's
needed to make Ubuntu a productive business asset. It offers more than added information about
the latest features, but revises and updates the entire book to incorporate much new information
on how to apply it more effectively in a web development environment. From initial setup and
monitoring to applications for mobile devices and on the cloud, Ubuntu Unleashed assumes no
prior knowledge and covers both basic commands and advanced applications. Configuration
code, editing default settings, turning regular tasks into programs that run when a system is
booted up, and hosting a virtual domain are only a few of the topics covered in a computer guide
packed with real world examples, code, and clear discussions.